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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0056.PDF
FLIGHT, JANUARY 16, and thereby induce more visitors to come and spend theirmoney in that town, but so far, no one appears to have been far-sighted enough to realise the vast potentialities there arein a properly operated aerodrome as means of permanent attraction to both visitors and inhabitants alike. Ourethnologically minded writers may not agree when I draw a parallel between the average inhabitant of this countryand that of, say, Berlin, but there is every evidence that their respective tastes in amusement do very nearly coincideTake, then, Berlin as an example ; at the Templehof aero- drome large crowds are to be seen every Saturday and Sunday,and, in fact, in comparatively large numbers any weekday. A very large proportion of the money spent there has beenspent with the object of attracting those crowds, and it has succeeded. The restaurant is well patronised, and while Iwill not allow that it cannot greatly be improved upon, it does at least show one way in which municipalities would bewell advised to spend some of the money they would save through not preparing the whole of the ground acquired atthe present time. There is really no end to the suggestions which could be put forward with such an end in view. Atwhat aerodrome do you find any attempt made to provide such attractions as, say, tennis courts, putting greens, bowlinggreens ? Given a site near enough to the town with a regular 'bus and train service to and from it, I would even go so faras to advocate the erection of a cinema theatre to be run in conjunction with the restaurant. No doubt many will say," what a mad idea," but it would certainly bring people to the aerodrome, even if it had to be closed during the wintermonths. Any form of attraction which will have this effect musteventually achieve the purpose which we are aiming at, and that is that people should become so accustomed to theproximity of aircraft that they will treat them as they do trains and yachts and thus take them for granted. To makesuch an aerodrome, as I have in mind, a paying concern, and one which will at the same time serve to increase this" air-mindedness," and form an added attraction to the towns' visitors, does not mean an aerodrome at which flyingis looked upon as the one and only means of entertainment for those who go there. Flying displays must certainly beorganised at intervals but the main essential is that there should always be something doing when the weather is fine ;that " something " need not be a carefully arranged and advertised display, for the mere sight of an aircraft in the airstill makes most people look at it and even the ordinary joy-riding machine going about its lawful occasions stillhas the effect of bringing many people to see what is going on. Much remains to be said on the subject of aerodromeoperation, and the problem is different for every location, but space debars me from going into further details at thepresent time ; these few words will, however, I hope, serve to show that while it is essential for us to see a great increasein the number of aerodromes established during the present year, it is equally essential that blind enthusiasm is tem-pered by clear-sighted keenness. There are already signs that certain municipalities are taking up their aerodromeschemes on these lines, so let us hope that many more will shortly be following their example. " DAEDALUS." GLIDING A UTO-TOWING.—Mr. C. H. Lowe-Wylde of the British**• Aircraft Co., Maidstone, has recently made an attempt to provide a machine particularly suitable for towing behinda motor car, since there appears to be a growing desire for this type of gliding in the Midlands where there are few slopessuitable for training. It has been found that the ordinary type of machine was not suitable for this purpose and with thenew type Mr. Lowe-Wylde has reached an altitude of 350 ft. above the surface of Hawkinge aerodrome where the testflights have been made. His report states that :—" For these flights the aircraft was coupled to a car, in this case a44 litre Bentley by a light steel cable approximately 200 yards long. The flight was commenced from one corner of theaerodrome and after a run of about 80 yards the machine and glider left the ground and climbed very rapidly to themaximum height allowed by the cable. At this point, the car had very nearly reached the limit ofthe run that the area permitted, therefore, the pilot operated a quick release mechanism fitted to the nose of the machinewhich freed the towing cable, and carried on for some little distance before commencing a left-hand turn. Travellingnow down wind, ground was covered at a very high speed, and the opposite side of the aerodrome was soon reached,when another turn was commenced, the machine passing about 100 ft. above a farm house. This completed a circuitof the aerodrome, and a landing was made practically in the same place from which the machine had originally taken off.A light type altimeter was carried and the height reached was 350 ft. Other flights were made to demonstrate the possibilitiesof this new method of gliding, and Mr. S. B. Green, a director of the company, received his first lesson."Auto-towing" as it is termed in America, is an easier and safer way of giving instruction than the popular methodof catapulting the machine off by means of an elastic rope, as the car speed can be kept so low that while it is impossiblefor the machine to leave the ground, the pupil can thoroughly learn the use of all controls with very little risk. Owing to the rarity of good gliding sites in America, thismethod has been largely developed there, and with a suit- ably designed machine and a car carrying a. winch from whichcable is unwound as the machine climbs, altitudes of from 1,500 to 2,000 ft. have been reached when upon approachingthe underside of the cloud strata, the pilot releases himself and commences free soaring in the upward air currents pre-vailing through clouds, and thus cover great distances. Carried on, on careful lines, this new phase should do muchto strengthen the gliding movement in this country, as in the flat districts, it allows more ambitious work to be undertaken,resulting in greater piloting abilities of pupils. We must, however, impress upon everybody that thismethod must of necessity introduce an added element oi danger to gliding and should only be undertaken under themost careful supervision and operated by people who have had previous experience and know exactly what they aredoing. On Saturday, January 10, Mr. Lowe-Wylde took hisspecial machine to Hanworth Park and demonstrated it before members of the new gliding section which has beenformed there. He was very successful in rising to over 350 ft., after which he cast loose and was able to make acircuit of the aerodrome before finally landing back at the starting point. Both Flt.-Lt. H. M. Schofield and Mr. M. L.Bramson tried the machine and found it simple to fly and an extremely good way of learning to handle a machine in theair. Further demonstrations will be given at Hanworth in the near future, and their gliding section are themselveshoping to start towed gliding on their own. There is no doubt that such means of gliding at aerodromes likeHanworth, that is, particularly those aerodromes near London which are fog-bound for so many week-ends at thistime of the year, will undoubtedly fill a long-felt want. So many people come very long distances to fly and thenfind that fog makes flying with power-driven aircraft out of the question, and in these cases they should be able to gaina vast amount of valuable experience in airmanship, and at the same time get it in an interesting and often humorourway. Incidentally, they are making great efforts at Hanworth to get everybody interested in this particular section andwe advise all members to apply to Flt.-Lt. Schofield tor further details. A XEW INTERMEDIATE Type Glider.—The Brant Air-•** craft Co. Ltd.. of Croydon, tried out their new inter- mediate type glider " The Scud." last Sunday on the LondonGliding Club's ground. Both Mr. Marcus Manton and Mr Latimer Needham flew the machine for several short flightsfrom the level and from half-way up the slope with excellent results. There are naturally a few minor points which wi"have to be corrected in the controls, but on the whole they were eminently satisfactory. The gliding angle is somewhereabout one in fifteen, while the wing loading is 3 • 1 lb. per square foot, which is 15 per cent, higher than the contemporaryGerman machines. The weight has come out at 103 1b , this being 2 lb. lighter than the estimated weight. This glider is ofthe fuselage type with a heavy monoplane wing. The fuselage is ply-wood covered and built in diamond form below thewing. It should prove a very good stepping stone from ™f Zogling stage to the soaring stage for those clubs who alreadyhave several " B " licensed pilots. 58
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